dissected

American  

[dih-sek-tid, dahy-] / dɪˈsɛk tɪd, daɪ- /

adjective

1. Botany. deeply divided into numerous segments, as a leaf.

2. Physical Geography. separated, by erosion, into many closely spaced crevices or gorges, as the surface of a plateau.

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dissected British  

/ daɪ-, dɪˈsɛktɪd /

adjective

1. botany in the form of narrow lobes or segments

   dissected leaves

2. geology (of plains) cut by erosion into hills and valleys, esp following tectonic movements

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Other Word Forms

• undissected adjective
• well-dissected adjective

Etymology

Origin of dissected

First recorded in 1625–35; dissect + -ed ²

Example Sentences

Mastick and her team opened 178 cans and carefully dissected the preserved fish, counting tiny parasitic worms known as anisakids embedded in the flesh.

From Science Daily • Apr. 1, 2026

The unsealed court filings mark the latest chapter in a case which has been dissected by internet sleuths for months.

From BBC • Feb. 26, 2026

Everything nowadays is documented, live-streamed and dissected, so his silence represented something my generation is deeply uncomfortable with: the absence of a narrative.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 30, 2025

The powerful men connected to him are named, dissected and speculated about.

From Salon • Dec. 17, 2025

They burned holes in the air, wrote poems of love, sucked the venom from sores, painted landscapes of gloom, and made metal sing; they dissected fire like newts.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson